The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-03-30

into the ark Know well that the door that
shut Noah in shut the world out; and though,
" hen the pitiless storm came pelting on their
heads, they beat upon the door, saying: LET
me in! let me in!r the door did not open For
10 years they were invited. They expected
TO come in; but the Antediluvian said:
sIsc must cultivate these fields, We
must be worth more focks OF sheep
and herds OF cattle; we viii wait
until we get little older; we viii enjoy our
old farm little longer" But meanwhile the
storm was brewing. The fountains of heaven
were filling up. The pry was being placed
beneath the foundations Of the great deep.
The last year had come, the last month, the
last week, the last day, the last hour, the last
moment. In an awful dash, an ocean dropped
from the sky and rolled up from beneath. and
God rolled the earth and sky into one wave
Of universal destruction
So men now put Off going into the ark.
They say they will wait twenty years first.
They viii have little longer time with their
worldly associates They viii wait until they
get older. They say you cannot expect
man of my attachments and of my position to
surrender myself just now. But before the
storm comes | will go in. Yes, | viii. l
know what | am about. Trust me. After
"A while. one night about II O'Clock. going
home he passes a scaffolding as a gust of
wind strikes il and plank falls. Deadl and
outside the ark Or, riding in the park,
reckless vehicle crashes into him, and his
horse becomes unmanageable, and he shouts:
whoa Whoa!7 and taises another twist in
the reins and plants his feet against the dasL-
board, and pulls back But no use 1t Is
not so much down the avenue that he
flies as on the way to eternity. Out of the
wreck of the crash his body is drawn, but his
soul is not picked up. 1t fed behind a swifter
courser into the great future Dead, and out
side the ark Or some night he wakes up
with distress that momentarily increases,
until he shrieks out with pain. The doctors
come in and they give him twenty drops, but
no relief; forty drops, fifty drops, sixty drops,
but no relief. No time for prayer No time
to read one Of the promises. No time to get
a single sin pardoned The whole house is
aroused in alarm The children scream; the
wife faints; the pulses fail; the heart stops;
the soul flies. On, my GOdl dead, and outside
the ark
have no doubt that derision kept many
people out of the ark The world laughed to
see man go in and said: Here is a man
starting for the ark. Why, there win be no
deluge II there is one that miserable ship
Will not weather it, Aha! going into the
ark Well, that is too good TO keep. Here.
fellows, have you heard the news? This man
is going into the ark" Under this artillery
of scorn the mans good resolution persisted.
And so there are hundreds kept out by the
fear of derision. The young man asks him
self What would they say at the store to
morrow morning if | should become a Chris
tan. When go down to the club house they
would shout: Here comes that new Christian.
Suppose you will not have anything to do
with us now. Suppose you are praying now.
Get down on yonr knees and let us hear you
pray Come, now, give us touch. Will
not do it, eh! Pretty Christian you are" Is
it not the fear of being laughed at that keeps
you out of the kingdom of God! Which Of
these scorners will help you at the last? When
you lie down on dying pillow which of them
will be therel In the day of eternity will
they bail you Outl
Ny friends and neighbors, come in right
away. Come in through Christ, the wide
door-the door that swings out toward you
Come in and be saved. Come and be happy
sThe spirit and the bride say. come" Room
in the arkl Room in the ark!
But do not come alone. The text invites
you to bring your family. "Come thou and
all thy house." That means your wife and
your children. You cannot drive them in
| If Noah had tried to drive the pigeons and
| the doves into the ark, he would only have
| scattered them. Some parents are not Rist
| about these things. They make iron rules
about Sabbaths, and they force the cate
| chism down the throat as they would hold
| the child's nose and force down dose OF
rhubarb and calomeL You cannot drive
| your children into the ark. You can draw
| your children to Christ, but you cannot co
cree them. The cross was lifted, not to drive
| but to draw. If be lifted up, / will draw
| all men unto men AS the sun draws up the
| drops of morning dew, so the sun ofrighteous
ness exhales the tears of repentance.
"Gome, thou and all thy house into the
| ark" Be sure that you bring your husband
and wife with you. How would Noah have
| felt if, when he heard the rain pattering OF
| the roof of the ark, he knew that his wife
was outside in the storml No; she went witt
him. And yet some of you are on the shiI
| outward bound" for heaven, but your com
| panion is unsheltered. You remember the
day when the marriage ring was set Moth
1 ing has yet been able to break it. Sickness
| came, and the finger shrank, but the ring
staid on. The twain stood alone above &
| child's grave, and the dark mouth of the
tomb swallowed up a thousand hopes; but thu
ring dropped not into the open grave Days
of poverty came, and the hand did many
hard days work; but the rubbing of the wort
| against the ring only made it shine brighter
/ Shall that ring ever be lost2 VIII the iror
elang of the sepulchre gate crush it forever
| pray God that you who have been married
| on earth may be together in heaven. OH by
the quiet bliss of your earthly home; by tbs
| babes cradle; by all the vows of that day
when you started life together, / beg you Il
see to it that you both get into the ark.
Come in and bring your wife or your has
band with you-not by fretting about re
ligion or dingdonging them about religion
but by n consistent life, and by a compelling
prayer that shall bring the throne of Goo
down into your bedroom. Better live in th'
smallest house in Brooklyn and get int.
heaven than live fifty years in the fines
house on Madison square and wake up a
last and find that one of you, for all eternity
IS outside the ark. Go home tonight, loci
the door of your room, take up the Bible anC
read it together, and then kneel down ant
commend your souls to him who has watched
you all these years: and, before you rise
there viii be a fluttering of wings over you
head, angel crying to angel: "Behold, the,
pray
But this does not include all your family
Bring the children too. God bless the dess
| ehlldrenl What would our homes be withou
them! We may have done much for them
They have done more for us, What a salv
for wounded heart there Is in the soft pain
of child's handi Did harp or flute eve
have such music as there is in child's sgoo,
nlghtf From our coarse, rough life tn
angels of God are often driven back; but VIII
comes into the nursery without feeling tina
angels are lowering arounda They who di
In infancy 60 into glory, but you are expect
ing your children to grow up in this world
Is 1t not a question then that rings through
all the corridors, and windings, and height
and depths of your soul, what is to become o
your sons and daughters for time and TO
eternity. "Ohin you say, II mean to see tina
they have good manners Very well g
mean to dress them WELL il have myself +
go shabby" Very good Il shall give then
an education and | shall leave them for
tune" Very well But is that ala Dom
you mean 10 take them into the arka Dom
you know that the storm is coming, and tina
out of Christ there is no safety. no pardon,
no hope, no heavens
How to get them ins Go in yourself. /
Noah mad stAid out, do you not suppose tina
his sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet, woult
have staid outs Your sons and daughter
viii be apt to do just as you do. Rejec
Christ yourself, and the probability is tina
your children viii reject him.
An account was taken of the religious con
dition of families in a certain district In tn
families OF pious parents two-thirds of th
children were Christians In the familie
where the parents were ungodly, only one
twelfth Of the children were Christians Re
sponsible as you are for their temporal exis
tence, you arc also responsible for their eter
nifty. Which way will you take theml Gu
into the deluge, or into the ark? Have yo
ever made one earnest prayer for their i'm
mortal soulss What will you say in tn
Judgment. when God asks: Where is George
or Henry or Frank or Mary or Ann,